Modern computing involves communication among electronic devices. This communication may occur over a network, or a collection of computers and other electronic hardware interconnected by communication channels. Many homes and offices have a number of computers connected via a local area network (LAN). Computers may be networked in the LAN via a wired or wireless network. A wireless local area network (WLAN) is established using a device known as wireless router. The wireless router mostly provides local area network access to wirelessly connect client devices such as notebook/laptop computers, smart phones, tablets, and other portable computer devices.
A client device typically connects to a network using a network interface controller. To connect to a wireless network, a client device typically uses a wireless network interface controller. A wireless network interface controller is a hardware chipset that is typically manufactured by different vendors along with specifically designed software known as a driver. A driver is usually created for a specific piece of hardware. The wireless network interface controller driver provides a medium for the wireless network interface controller hardware to receive instructions and operate within a specific operating system. An operating system is software that manages the computer hardware, for example, Windows, Linux, and Apple Macintosh OS.
A wireless networking card typically has a radio transceiver with limited transmission power, which limits the maximum range of the wireless network interface controller. The wireless network interface controller can measure a received signal of a wireless router. The received signal can be quantified by the wireless network interface controller using a received signal strength index (RSSI). The data transmission and reception rate between two devices connected to a wireless network is directly proportional to the RSSI. To maintain a minimum level of communication performance, a minimum RSSI must be maintained. The transmission and reception speed of the radio transceiver in each device communicating with one another also affects the data transmission and reception rate.
A wireless network interface controller and its driver follow a communication protocol to connect to the wireless router. Typically, the communication protocol is adherent to the IEEE 802.11 standard, which is created by the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers to facilitate communication between various wireless devices.
The wireless network interface controller may transmit and receive bits of data on a channel defined by the IEEE 802.11 standard. Each channel includes a radio frequency range. To allow an effective communication, both communicating devices may set their transceiver radios to communicate over the same channel. As more devices are added to a channel, the increasing volume of data broadcast over the channel may cause the channel to become congested. For example, each wireless network interface controller set to communicate over a channel receives all data broadcast on that channel. A wireless network interface controller then must filter out the data that is not intended to receive, causing transmission delays and operational inefficiencies. To determine whether a packet of data is intended for a particular wireless network interface controller, a Medium Access Control (MAC) address may be used and analyzed. If the wireless network interface controller does not possess a MAC address that corresponds to the broadcast communication, the contents of that communication may be disregarded, thus wasting the time and energy required to detect and receive the unnecessary data.
A wireless network interface controller can change the channel on which it communicates data, allowing a device to communicate on less congested frequencies. However, as the wireless network interface controller seeks a new channel and/or wireless router, the device will generally be unable to transmit or receive data communications. This disruption of data communication may cause some networked services to fail, for example, Voice-Over-IP (VOIP) telecommunications. The wireless network interface controller typically includes a mode control switch, which controls the operation of the wireless network interface controller between a managed mode, in which data is communicated among devices, and a monitor mode, in which the wireless network interface controller receives data transmitted from other devices to analyze a channel or network. This disparate operation of a wireless network interface controller between a managed mode and a monitor mode causes disadvantageous connection drops, service interruptions, and network disconnections.
What is needed is a system to operate a wireless network interface controller that can provide the network monitoring features of operating in monitor mode, while not disallowing the data communication features of operating in managed mode. What is needed is a system that can seamlessly switch operation of a wireless network interface controller between managed mode and monitor mode to allow analysis of network conditions while maintaining a virtually uninterrupted connection for data communication. What is needed is a method to analyze the network communication needs of a system and monitor network conditions without disrupting the communication needs.